Eternal Starlight (Kaito x Maki)

Chapter 2: Steady Hearts

~Dinggggggggg~

The lunch bell rang suddenly and sharply, breaking through the silence in the room. The students bubbled with energy as they slowly started making their way out of the classroom and off to the school plaza.

Kaito whirled around to face Shuichi and flashed him an excited grin. The two stood up and followed the rest of their group out towards the plaza, lunchboxes in hand. Every day during lunch, their class would go outside to the school plaza to eat lunch with the 77th and 78th classes.

Kaito was the first to start the conversation, as always. "How are ya feelin' about that test we took on Monday?"

"I'm actually feeling really confident about it," Shuichi expressed, as they continued towards the plaza. "I was able to understand the material without much trouble."

"Hey, that's good!" Kaito responded, laughing nervously. "I'm just hoping I didn't botch it too bad."

"Don't talk like that, I'm sure you did fine!" the detective insisted. Shuichi's concern made Kaito smile. He was grateful that they had become friends when they did, as Shuichi had made these past few weeks all the more enjoyable.

The two soon arrived at the school plaza and began walking around in search of a good spot to eat. It was bustling with life as students from the three classes intermingled. Whenever they all got together, no matter where you looked, there was always something interesting going on.

To his right, Kaito watched as Mondo, Chihiro, and Taka ate lunch with Sonia, Gundham, and Kazuichi. Sakura and Nekomaru were having an arm-wrestling match nearby, Asahina and Akane cheering their partners on. He was glad, seeing everyone so cheerful.

The friendship among the students wasn't the only nice thing, either. The sun had peaked in the sky, the mid-day warmth bathed the plaza. That soft breeze from earlier that morning had returned, a crisp autumn scent riding the wind as it blew cool air through the area.

Soon, Kaito and Shuichi found a shaded bench beneath a large tree, the leaves of which were speckled with orange, yellow, and red. A relaxed sigh escaped his lips as Kaito plopped down on the bench and unzipped his lunchbox. Shuichi followed, taking a seat next to him.

As the two began eating their lunch, Shuichi pointed out to his friend, "Hey Kaito, check it out."

Intrigued, he looked over in the direction Shuichi was pointing. Beneath the tree opposite of theirs sat Kaede and Maki. Maki seemed lost in conversation with Kaede, though Kaito could barely hear them from that distance.

"Cool," he replied, returning to his lunch. Shuichi tilted his head, confused by his friend's reaction.

"Wha- Aren't you gonna go talk to her?" he asked. While wearing a gentle smile, Kaito looked up and gazed longingly at Maki.

"Nah, I talked to her a bit this morning," he explained, "Besides, she's hanging out with Kaede right now, and Kaede makes her happy."

Shuichi nodded in acknowledgment, impressed by his unusually thoughtful sentimentality, "Yeah, of course."

"I mean, Kaede does a pretty good job of making you happy, too," Kaito added mischievously, nudging Shuichi's side with his elbow. His pale face lit up with red-hot embarrassment at the mention of his all-too-obvious crush.

"H-Hey!" he murmured softly while coming up with a retort, "Like you've got any room to talk! You light up like lamp whenever Maki's around!"